IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LAKE DISTRICT [To the Editor of THE
SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The local paper,, which provides weekly news of the, Lake District, contains, this:week, a .depressing record of the. "improvements" which, are planned , or in the making. To mention a few items : the destruction of, the old Mardele Church, the erection of a new hotel to replace the old Dam, Bull, and the -general despoiling of tile lace side, the making of motor roads over the passes and the, new highway through , " Dora's field," which has so long .been. associated with the Wordsworths. Apart from .these " improvements " there are everywhere an increasing number, of unsightly buildings, bungalows, wooden shacks for hikers, and petrol stations. Furthermore, in the interest of the motorist the old winding roads with their moss-grown stone walls are being straightened and widened, and the stone walls replaced by long lines .of iron railings fixed into concrete. No one seems to be able, to control the desecration of this unique corner of Britain.
Itis the more to be deplored since unspoilt country possesses increasing attractions for those whose lives are mainly spent in towns and by whom the countryside is sought for its beauty as much as for rest or physical recreation.
The only solution of this pressing problem, so it seems to me, is to convert the district into a National Park with proper. and adequate supervision. Though- "Friends of the Lake-District" and the Society for te Preservation of the Countryside are making , valiant _efforts to restra- in the improvers, they have no legal powers and attempts at per- suasion do not carry far.
It would be a lasting misfortune if future generations could never see the Lake District in its original beauty ; for the country once spoilt can never be restored.—Yours, &c.
Coniston, Lancashire.'
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